Guarda opened the door wider and hobbled a few steps back. Monsieur D took this as an invitation to enter, and the rest of us followed. Audrey and Dureau looked about as happy to be there as I felt.
We entered directly into a poorly lit room, probably owing to the fact that all the windows were either boarded up or were otherwise covered. A few candles burned around the small space. The smell was intense. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it made me uneasy. It was something earthy, but not in the good way. It smelled like wet dirt—dank and musty. Behind it was another scent—incense? Musk? The air was surprisingly warm compared to the crisp coldness of the outdoors, and it was stuffy. You wouldn’t want to be claustrophobic in a place like this.
My eyes adjusted to the dark, and the full horror of our surroundings revealed itself. The windows were darkened over with either cardboard or a rough material. The only source of light came from candles. The candle’s glow illuminated rows and rows of what were clearly human skulls mounted on the wall directly across from us. Some of the skulls were complete, but others lacked jaws.
There were two small altars erected in each of the far corners. One was a small table covered in a white cloth. On it stood another human skull, a mound of assorted fruit, bottles filled with goodness knew what, and a substantial gold cross which glimmered in the candlelight. On the opposite wall, another small table had been placed, this time covered with red material. Centered on it was what I could only assume was a cow’s skull, complete with horns, more candles, and, most sinister of all, four jars stuffed with naked baby dolls. My hand flew involuntarily to my belly.
I felt certain, somehow, that Guarda had noticed this gesture, even though I hadn’t even looked at her. I withdrew my hand immediately. What the baby dolls in the jars represented, I didn’t know and didn’t want to know.
“Madame.” Monsieur D took Guarda’s gnarled old hand and kissed it. “So good of you to entertain us.”
Was this what passed for entertainment in these parts?
“You must be quick. I do not like so many in my home.”
Her voice was extraordinary. It had a deep grittiness to it, yet, at the same time, it was barely more than a whisper. When she spoke, she revealed several missing teeth. Her tongue poked out of the front of her mouth when she formed her words, reminding me of a soft, pink serpent. Not for the first time since entering the shack, a shiver passed through my body.
“Madame Guarda,” Dureau began, “we wish…”
“I know what you want.” The reply was a hiss, sudden and hostile.
“Of course.” Dureau lowered his head and moved a step back from Guarda. I didn’t blame him. Sometimes retreat was the best strategy.
“Are you able to help our young friends?” asked Monsieur D, his voice singsong and light. It was as though he wasn’t in the least bit concerned about the human skulls, the weird smell, the darkness, the jarred babydolls, or Guarda herself.
“Of course I’m able to help them,” she responded as she looked at each of us in turn. Her gaze fixed on me, and she didn’t shift it. “But why should I?” She let out a weird clacking sound, which I later worked out was a laugh.
“Why, to defeat the common foe, of course,” Monsieur D responded.
“What makes you think Luce is an enemy of mine?” she asked him, finally pulling her attention from me. Thank God.
“Because he’s the enemy of all magical beings, that’s why,” Monsieur D responded. I noticed with interest that it didn’t seem like anyone else wanted to talk to her. “His aim is to crush all opposition and become supreme leader.”
“Luce and I have an understanding,” Guarda said as my heart dropped.
“What kind of understanding?” I asked.
She faced me, and those faded eyes made my knees weak. “I leave him alone and he leaves me alone.”
“And you trust him to honor that agreement?” I asked.
“I am no fool, girl,” Guarda answered.
“Of course, she was not hinting that you are,” Monsieur D interjected. I was interested in the fact that he seemed very aware of offending her.
“I expect Luce to swindle me, just like every other man I ever met,” Guarda continued as her attention moved from Monsieur D and settled on Sinjin. He stared right back at her.
“I see no reason to antagonize Luce in the meantime,” Guarda finished.
“Madame Guarda.” I could see that Monsieur D was choosing his words carefully. “If you don’t mind my saying, do you not think your approach might be a little short-sighted?”
Guarda glared at him. I wouldn’t have liked to be on the receiving end of that look. Monsieur D cleared his throat nervously and continued. It was the first time I’d ever seen him appear apprehensive. And that was saying something.
“Luce is adding to his armies daily,” Monsieur D continued. “I have it on good authority that he means to mount an attack in the very near future. He’s also gaining in magical power all the time. It would appear to me, my good lady, that a pre-emptive strike is desirable under the circumstances.”
The glare remained unbroken. It made me uncomfortable, and I wasn’t even on the receiving end of it.
It seemed an age before Guarda spoke again. I didn’t know where to rest my eyes. I couldn’t look at the baby dolls in their jars. I felt they were staring at me, imploring me to let them out. Not to mention the numerous skulls with their hollow eye cavities. This place was beyond eerie.
Eventually, Guarda turned without saying anything and limped awkwardly into another room. It was too dark to see what she was doing, but we could hear her rummaging around. We all exchanged glances. Only Sinjin and Monsieur D appeared relatively relaxed.
Guarda re-emerged, holding two bottles containing what looked like swamp water. A brown sediment had settled at the base of each bottle, and in the clearer liquid at the top, particles of what looked like dirt floated around.
She handed the bottles to Dureau, who happened to be standing closest to her.
“You and the girl drink a bottle each before entering the dream world,” she instructed.
“But Guarda,” Audrey spoke for the first time since we’d entered the house, her voice cracking a little. “We already have a potion prepared for us by the Prophetess.”
This provoked an enormous cackle, the sound uncannily like that of a death rattle.
“Is Mercedes still calling herself that? What a joke.” She stopped laughing. “Show me.”
She held out a claw-like hand. Audrey, who’d been charged with safeguarding the vials, removed them from where they were concealed in a special pack she wore at all times at her lower back. She passed them to Guarda, her own fingers trembling. The older woman clutched them greedily and opened one, immediately holding it up to her nose. She inhaled deeply, and I could hear the sound of liquid in her lungs.
“Pah!” she pronounced, after a few seconds. “May as well drink your own piss. Take my bottles instead. They will deliver what you need.”
“You mean we’ll be able to successfully enter the dreams of all of Luce’s tribe?” I asked.
My eagerness had forced the words out. I instantly regretted them, as Guarda fixed her attention on me again with those unnerving, unearthly eyes.
“Ah,” she said as she took a few steps closer. Before I could do anything—like run in the other direction—she reached out and gripped my wrist. I glanced down at her bony hand and noticed that her skin was as delicate as rice paper. I could see all the veins underneath—they bugged out of her skin like plump worms.
“The bearer of the Flame,” she whispered. “I have heard of you.”
I gulped. “You have?”
She grinned toothlessly at me, then, thankfully, abruptly lost interest and released my wrist.
“I’ll keep these,” she said, referring to Mercedes’ vials.
“But I thought you said …” Audrey’s voice trailed off as Guarda bestowed yet another of her killer stares.
&nb
sp; “Madame. We are most grateful for your assistance in this matter,” said Monsieur D, removing his hat and bowing low.
“What’s in it for you, anyway?” Guarda barked at him, ignoring his expression of gratitude.
Monsieur D grinned widely. “Don’t you worry about me. I always get paid.”
She gave him a sour look, then turned her attention back to the rest of us. “Get out,” she growled.
We didn’t need to be told twice.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Bryn
Back in the Jeep, Damek scrambled into an upright position and removed his headphones as we flung open all the car doors and buckled ourselves back in.
“Did she agree to help us?” he asked.
“Well, she gave us two bottles of what looks like swamp water and she said it would help us. Might poison us first,” I replied.
“Now, now, my dear,” said Monsieur D. “I am certain Guarda will be as good as her word. Despite what she said, she’s well aware of the threat posed by Luce. It’s in her own self-interest to help us.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Dureau responded.
“Mercedes is going to kill me when she finds out Guarda took her potions,” Audrey muttered to no one in particular, looking out the window and chewing her lower lip.
“You were very quiet in there,” I said as I looked at Sinjin, who had turned on the engine and was thankfully driving us the hell out of dodge.
“I did not wish to draw attention to myself, my little hellion,” he said as he eyed the potted road and took each pothole slowly. Even so, all of our heads bobbed up and down. “The woman is a powerful and dark force. The less information she gleaned about me the better, in my humble opinion.”
“You’ve never had a humble opinion in your life,” I responded with a smile.
Sinjin grinned, and it was incredibly sexy. “I concur with your appraisal, princess.”
Going back to Sinjin’s point, he was probably right. Guarda definitely wasn’t the type of person you wanted fishing inside your head. My own interaction with her had been minimal, but still I felt filthy afterwards—inside and out. Like I was in need of a shower. When she’d touched me… the memory made my skin crawl.
“What was she like?” Damek asked, leaning forward from his seat and poking his head in between Sinjin and me, as he looked expectantly from one to the other of us.
“Exceedingly repulsive,” Sinjin answered.
“You’re lucky you didn’t go in. I wish I hadn’t,” I said.
“I don’t know what you’re all making such a big deal about,” Damek said with a shake of his head. “I saw her when she opened the door. She’s just a little old woman.”
“You would do well not to underestimate your elders, boy!” Monsieur D’s voice boomed from the very back of the Jeep. There was something supernatural about the tone. Regardless, it shut Damek up.
“You can let me out here,” Monsieur D announced as we neared the outskirts of Slidell. “I have business to attend to in town.” Sinjin pulled to the side of the road and stopped the Jeep as Monsieur D jumped out with an agility that belied his years. He doffed his battered, black top hat and bowed low.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, as usual, the pleasure has been all mine.”
We all murmured polite responses as he turned and walked away.
Good riddance to bad rubbish , I thought towards his retreating back, all the while realizing I was beginning to sound more and more British.
We decided to wait until the next day to attempt another adventure into the dream world. We were all pretty wiped out after our visit to Guarda. Dureau and Audrey, in particular, still seemed shaken, causing me to wonder about their history with the old woman.
I had to admit to myself that I was dreading going back to the dream world again, especially after what happened last time with Jack waking up. But I wouldn’t admit defeat yet, especially not to Sinjin, who was worried enough as it was.
He paced up and down our hotel suite as if he needed to pee badly and there was no toilet available.
“Would you sit down? You’re making me nervous,” I said.
“Am I? Sorry.” He plonked himself down in the nearest chair. He then started fidgeting with a complementary pen that had been left out on a side table. After ten seconds or so, he snapped it completely in two.
“Sinjin!”
“Sorry.”
“What’s wrong with you?”
“You know what is wrong with me!” he responded as he faced me with wide, concerned eyes. “I do not want you going back into that dream reality again.”
“You know I have to.”
“I am not sure that I do.”
“Look. We have Guarda’s potion this time, and whatever Guarda is, everyone seems to agree she’s very magically powerful. That means we have our best chance so far of succeeding once and for all.”
“We have no idea what those bottles contain,” he argued. “What if the contents harm the baby?”
“I’ll ask Dureau and Audrey if they believe the contents will hurt the baby. Undoubtedly, they have some type of magic that can tell. And if there’s any doubt, I won’t take it.”
I walked over to him and knelt between his legs, looping my arms around his neck and giving him a kiss on the lips. Then I pulled away, took his face between my hands, and stared deeply into his incomparable eyes. As often happened, I had the impression I was falling into them.
“We’ve got to have faith,” I said.
“Faith in what?” His tone was contemptuous.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Faith that the forces of good will win.”
“The forces of what?!” He pushed away from me and stood up in disgust as he started pacing again.
“What? What’s wrong with that?” I asked.
“You think we’re the force of good?”
“Well … yes.”
“Maybe you are, Bryn. But not I.”
“I think you are,” I said quietly.
He rounded on me, almost in fury, his eyes as pale as ice. “I am a master vampire, for pity’s sake! I have been around for six centuries!”
“I’m aware, Sinjin.”
“Do you have any idea of the amount of immoral and … evil deeds I have perpetrated in that time?”
I stared at him long and hard. I didn’t suppose I did. Or ever would. It wasn’t really something I spent my time thinking about.
“That was then, and this is now,” I said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” At least he’d stopped pacing.
“The man I see before me …”
“Vampire, Bryn,” he spat. “I am not a man.”
“You’re my man,” I said simply, and stood up before approaching him. “And the father of my child. And I trust you. And I believe in you. There’s no one else I’d rather have by my side, either on the battlefield or … in the nursery.”
“The nursery?” His mouth twitched, and I was pretty sure a smile wasn’t far behind.
“That’s what they call it, isn’t it? A nursery? The place you keep the baby.”
“You should probably find out for sure before the baby arrives.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said with a smile. “I should probably read one of those books you gave me.”
Sinjin put his arms loosely around me and smiled. “Perhaps you should.” I could see that the anger had completely left his body. His eyes had returned to their usual, vivid blue.
Well done, Bryn, I told myself. Could be good practice for when I had to deal with a toddler.
“It’s time to invade some dreams,” I said.
“You go first,” I said as I faced Dureau. We were in his hotel room again. Dureau and I lay on top of his bed. Luckily, Sinjin had kept his complaints to himself this time.
“No, you,” Dureau answered.
“I said it first.”
“Oh, this is ridiculous!” exclaimed Audrey. “Both knock it back at the same time!”
> Dureau and I looked at each other and nodded as we held the vials Guarda had supplied us. There was something familiar about the bottles—the look and the shape of them. I couldn’t quite put my finger on why, though.
“Okay. Down the hatch. Ready?” Dureau asked.
“And you’re sure this won’t hurt the baby?” I asked.
“I tested it by virtue of my own magic,” Audrey answered. “It is safe.”
We both held our noses and swallowed. The first drop of liquid reached my taste buds and I gagged involuntarily, Dureau mirroring my actions.
“That’s vile!” I said as I shook my head and wiped my mouth with my sleeve.
“C’est degoutant ,” Dureau spluttered in disgust.
“Remember, Maman always said the best medicine always tastes the worst,” Audrey reprimanded him.
“You drink it, then.” He held the bottle out to his sister.
She grinned. “Now, now, Dureau. No need to be petulant.”
He rolled his eyes, then turned to me.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
I nodded. This time I really went for it, glugging the whole thing back, determined not to stop until I’d downed every drop. The sensation of the potion sliding down the back of my throat was truly revolting—alternately gloopy and gritty.
Finally, it was gone, and then so was I.
Right away, I knew this time was different. I blinked a few times, hand in hand with Dureau, and found myself standing beside the familiar flame. Dureau looked over at me and nodded.
This time, there was no fog to speak of.
“Looks like Guarda came through after all,” I said.
“Hmm. I shall reserve judgment on that for the time being.”
We moved cautiously together, away from the safety of the flame. The last time, the experience was like moving through a watercolor painting of dripping color. This time, it was more like being in the middle of an impressionist painting, random bits of color everywhere. Nothing was very coherent. I looked down at my feet and realized I couldn’t see the ground beneath them. It was then that I also realized I couldn’t feel anything solid. It was like I was walking on air.
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